1. Discover Network-Building Principles
Building networks can require a mindset shift. Network building and leadership is not the same as building or leading a single organisation. Network leadership requires a different approach, one that involves being a catalyst, facilitator, connector and coordinator. To begin with, we recommend reading this short article, Principles for Effective Networks by Mats Tunehag. Vision Synergy and the Ministry Collaboration Network of the Lausanne Movement are also great sources of materials and training for developing collaborative missional networks.
2. Learn What Resources and Entities are Working in Your Area
Whether you are interested in building a network for a region, industry, or issue-group, there are likely to be at least some existing resources and entities in your area of interest. A great place to start is with research and discovering what already exists, and then building relationships and identifying the gaps. See the Connect tab for more on how to discover existing entities.
3. Develop Your Purpose, Values and Principles
We recommend gathering a small core team of like-minded collaborators and to start to prayer and meet together, initially to build relationships and continue to research together the current landscape, needs and gaps. From there start to develop the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of your new network together. Capture an agreed purpose and objectives for the network, along with values and principles for how you will work together. Agree some preliminary tasks and allocate them to those who will facilitate and serve those activities. We recommend starting by collecting a list of interested people and then setting up some regular communications (e.g. a regular email, a messaging group, a social media account, etc..) and also establishing a rhythm of regular meetings, whether online or in-person.
4. Read the book Impact Networks by David Ehrlichman
If you are serious about building a BAM-related network long-term, we recommend reading Ehrlichman’s book Impact Networks: Create Connection, Spark Collaboration, and Catalyze Systematic Change, read more about the book here and download a set of free resources from the network toolkit here.
